Former New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia has spent plenty of time in the weight room and looks like a whole new athlete.
At 39 years old, C.C. Sabathia’s days playing professional baseball are numbered, but that hasn’t kept the seven-time All Star from continuing to improve his physique. The, now, former New York Yankees’ pitcher has completely transformed his body this offseason.
Sabathia’s trainer, Dave Paladino recently shared a video on Instagram of Sabathia working out. It is clear he looks like a completely different person. After struggling with his weight, and several injuries, for years, Sabathia appears to have dropped a lot of weight and packed on significant muscle.
Much like many retired athletes, Sabathia doesn’t have to focus on baseball specific workouts and is using the time away from the game to shred. Some of the workouts he has done can be seen in this video that was shared a little over a week ago.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_5JAmUj1H9/?igshid=1nqdprxar1535
While many have been impressed by the “new” Sabathia, not all share the same opinion. New York radio host Mike Francesca is not enamored by the work Sabathia has put in. A New York Post article cites Francesca as saying this sudden weight loss isn’t going to make him a better pitcher.
The goal of Sabathia’s workout video may not have been to show he can still play. It does still raise the case of whether he could still play. Sabathia will be 40 in July and went 5-8 with a 4.95 ERA over 22 starts in 2019. Could a shortened seasons give Sabathia a thought of possibly coming back for one last rodeo?
Over 19 seasons, he sports a 251-161 record. Sabathia spent the first seven-and-a-half years of his career with the Cleveland Indians, before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers mid-way through the 2008 season. He then signed with the Yankees prior to the 2009 season and won his only World Series in his first season in pinstripes.
Sabathia joins of long list of former athletes to shred weight and jack up following their playing days. Plenty of former NFL offensive linemen have lost their playing weight and completely transformed their bodies after retirement.
Business Insider wrote an article in 2018 that talked about former NFL players who lost a ton of weight following their retirement. Some of the players highlighted in that article were Joe Thomas, Brad Culpepper and Mike Golic.
It’s always nice to see former players lose weight and get in shape following their playing days. That is not to say they weren’t in shape when they played, but it’s always a good thing to lose the weight the player carried when they played.
Sabathia is someone who’s weight got close to 300 pounds throughout his career, but those days seem long behind him. For someone who struggled with their weight much of their career, it is nice to see Sabathia getting into tip-top shape as he enters retirement.